Like "Taken," another action film derived from a Besson idea, "Lookout" tells the story of a young woman (once again, it's Maggie Grace) being held prisoner. But where "Taken" had the great advantage of a father's need to save his own daughter, and of Liam Neeson in vengeance mode, the relationships in "Lockout" are lukewarm. Our hero doesn't care if he rescues her, and the audience doesn't much care, either. At one point, it's even uncertain whether her being rescued is good for the country. This sort of muddled focus in a screenplay - not to be confused for complexity - is a hallmark of faulty story construction.
Yet most of the time "Lockout" is pleasant enough, not something to recommend to a friend, but enjoyable in the moment. Guy Pearce has a lot to do with that, as the most impervious action star imaginable. At the start of the film, he is tied to a chair and being interrogated by a government official. Every time he is asked a question, he makes a wisecrack and gets punched in the face. This happens about a half dozen times, and to the screenwriters' credit, every single wisecrack is funny.
Later, when offered the assignment of saving the president's daughter, he answers, "I'd rather castrate myself with blunt rocks." Could Noel Coward ever write repartee like that? I think not.
Pearce stays funny throughout, but "Lockout" itself isn't funny, and perhaps it should have been. The movie never bogs down, and the filmmakers aren't self-important enough to overstay their welcome. But as is inevitable with a movie like this - that is, one stuck on a spaceship and with nothing worth pursuing in terms of relationships - the action piles on and acquires a sameness. Too much of "Lockout" consists of Pearce and Grace running through a dim corridor, with people shooting at them.
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